Clorinda Low Lucas Clorinda Low Lucas pioneered social welfare in Hawaiʻi and supported the wellbeing of children and families. A trustee of Liliʻuokalani Trust from 1947 to 1986, she was the first woman to be appointed to the position. Elizabeth Jessamine Kauikeolani Low Lucas was born on Hawaiʻi Island on Aug. 9, 1895, to Elizabeth “Lizzie” Puʻuki Napoleon and Ebenezer Parker Low. Nicknames were common in her family. Her father, Ebenezer, was known as “Rawhide Big.” At age 6, she received the nickname “Clorinda” after a storybook character with a personality that was akin to hers. She also was the hānaī daughter of Sanford Dole, the first governor Hawaiʻi. She married Charles W. Lucas on July 19, 1924, and had a daughter, Laura. As a youth, she attended Punahou School (Class of 1913,) where her interest in social work began at the Hui Pauahi, a student club that regularly visited with children in Kakaʻako.In 1917, she graduated from Smith College in Massachusetts and served on the national board of the Young Women’s Christian Association in the division to educate foreign-born women. She returned to Honolulu in 1921 to be an assistant director of the Strong Foundation Dental Clinic and later a social worker at the Hawaiian Humane Society. The society’s mission at the time was to serve children and animals. In 1935, she left Hawaiʻi for a graduate degree at the New York School of Social Work at what is now Columbia University. She trained in public welfare administration and child welfare, dedicating her life to serving children and families.Upon returning to Honolulu after graduate school, she served as Director of the Territorial Department of Public Welfare, and when the group reorganized to focus on social work and child welfare, she was Director of the social work division. For 17 years, she led the School Social Work Service for the state of Hawaii’s Department of Public Instruction (previously known as the Pupil Guidance Division of the Guidance, Health and Special Education). She retired from her career in 1960. In addition to championing Hawaiʻi’s social welfare, she was the first female to become a trustee and chairperson for Liliʻuokalani Trust, which she joined in 1947. During this era, LT shifted focus away from institutions to serve children. Innovative methods were encouraged, such as foster homes, adoption programs and smaller programs providing one-on-one support. Her son-in-law and social worker, Myron B. Thompson, also worked with the trust to establish foster care and adoption programs in Hawaiʻi. The school of social work at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa is named after him. In her lifetime, she received numerous honors and served on various boards and commissions:Distinguished Service Award from the Hawaiʻi Congress of Parents and TeachersAward of Excellence from Smith College “O in Life” award from Punahou SchoolCommission on Children and Youth Kamehameha Schools Advisory CouncilThe former Kapiʻolani Children’s and Maternity Hospital.Chief of the Territorial Department of Public WelfareChair of the Kamehameha Schools Advisory CouncilChair of the State Commission of Children and YouthDirector of the 4-H FoundationTrustee of Kawaiahaʻo ChurchOn Feb. 24, 1986, Lucas passed away in Honolulu.